April, 2008

March, 2008

October, 2007

Britain has just enjoyed a weekend of parties and barbecues in celebration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. Have you ever wondered about the idea of a Jubilee? Traditionally a Jubilee was invoked (perhaps every 50 years or so) as a moment when all debts were forgiven.

Anyone who has worked with formal business accounts will be familiar with the process of 'writing off' something. This simply means that, for instance, an item on your balance sheet, such as an amount owed to you (a credit) or an amount owed by you (a debt), can be canceled, removed, struck off. The credit/debt is gone.

If the creaking global economy can not sustain the present burden of accumulated debt - why not get rid of it? There are trillions of dollars of debt tied up with pointless paper derivatives that could simply be disappeared without any real harm being done. It was a regular occurrence in earlier times.

Rather than build more expensive bureaucratic sand castles on top of other crumbling sand castles (which will create more debt), we can just cancel the debt.

As head of the Church of England this is a marvelous opportunity for Elizabeth to demonstrate true Christian charity. If she has the courage to call for a Debt Jubilee she will have championed a people bowing under the yoke of austerity.

She will have used the Diamond given to her by the people, to relieve the people's sacrifice. What a magnificent legacy.